July 12 Article in Courier Life newspapers about Sam Sloan for Congress

July 12 Article in Courier Life about Sam Sloan for Congress

SLOAN GOES IT ALONE East New York resident Sam Sloan, who has filed suit to get authorization to run as a Republican against Rep. Ed Towns, wrote to one Republican official, "The Kings County Republican Party has lost every election for the past 30 years. You should take some introspective looks at yourselves. Is there something wrong with the voters, or is there something wrong with you? Why do the people amongst whom you live never vote for you? Why do you insist on running your hopelessly losing candidates every two years, when for a change you can allow somebody like me to run who actually has a chance to win?" Sloan was actually making some sense until that last part.

In the event that Sloan wins the right to run as a Republican, he'd struggle to collect signatures from 886 registered Republicans in the district to make the ballot. Candidates with the party's blessing get help from party volunteers, but Sloan would need his own campaign operation, which he doesn't have. Petitions must be filed by midnight on July 15.

One of the defendants in Sloan's suit is the chosen Republican candidate versus Towns, Isabelle Jefferson. "On the subway on the way to the courthouse, I realized that I had to add Isabella [sic] Jefferson as a defendant. She is a necessary party. I realize that she is in South Carolina and probably does not even know that her name has been substituted in place of mine as the Republican candidate for US Congress. She is 76 years old and I was reluctant to sue her but as long as her name is on the petitions, I have no choice."

Sloan also sued to run as an Independence Party candidate, citing party by-laws allowing registered voters with no party affiliation (such as himself) to vote in Independence Party primaries. If they can vote, Sloan figures, registered blanks should also be allowed to run on the Independence line.

Even if he wins his case, the chances of Sloan collecting 284 signatures from Independence Party candidates in the 10th Congressional District by July 15 are remote. Before suing, Sloan sought the Independence line through more traditional means-an interview, which was held (rather appropriately) at the Brooklyn Social Therapy office in Prospect Heights.